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Last week, Grande Prairie Daily Herald Tribune Editor-in-Chief Fred Rinne had a chance to sit down with legendary coach and TV personality Don Cherry and get his thoughts on some hot topics in the world of hockey.

On Daniel Alfredsson going to Detroit:

Don: “Someone asked me about that. I think Ottawa has as much of a chance to win the Stanley Cup as Detroit. Is there no loyalty?”

On Leafs getting David Clarkson and re-signing Tyler Bozak:

Don: “(Seven years) for Clarkson, I knew about that (Thursday). I gave my word, so I have to sit there listen to these guys talking about where guys are gonna go...I mean... I knew (Nathan) Horton was going to Columbus. (Bozak) I can’t believe they re-signed him for that, I mean, there’s a classic case of overpaying a guy. Ridiculous. He’s a plugger, he’s playing with (Phil) Kessel and he can’t get 20 goals. You could get 20 goals playing with Kessel (laugh).” (Editor’s Note: No I couldn’t.)

Don: “Ference is a good guy, good player, good solid defenceman, he’s going out there where he come from and the whole deal. But the Bruins, I can’t believe they gave up on Seguin, but there was bad feelings in Boston there I think. Something happened. He (Peter Chiarelli GM) inferred that he was not a good kid off the ice. I don’t care if he’s Jekyll and Hyde you don’t say that. Everybody starts asking what did the kid do, what has he done? He’s a good kid really. He’s a young single kid what do you think he’s gonna be a monk?”

On Roberto Luongo staying in Vancouver, Cherry being one of few predicting it could happen:

Don: “I guess I did. Halfway through the season when Schneider was red hot he won 10 in a row and I went on Coach’s Corner and said this is the time to trade him. You’ll either get a first rounder and two good players or two picks and a player because I said you’re not getting rid of Luongo (pronounced by Grapes predictably and consistently LuLongo) It’s not the player, it’s his contract. So get rid of Schneider now and get tops. It would take some guts to do it, but it needed to be done. You know what his record was in the last game he played? Thirteen shots, five goals. If they had listened to me and traded him at Christmas they would have got a small fortune for him. Bottom line is they have Luongo now, he’ll be alright. He’s a good goalie, he took them to the seventh game of the Stanley Cup. If I was Luongo, I’d be (miffed). (The ownership and management team had to fly to Florida and have a chat with him to reinforce him.) “No (kidding).”

On the new junior rule disallowing European goaltenders:

Don: “Three out of the four goaltenders in the Memorial Cup were Europeans. Let me explain what happens because I owned a junior club (Missisauga Ice Dogs). They don’t bring over young European goaltenders to train them. They bring older ones over. So our kids don’t have a chance. Our younger kids are backups. And when that older goaltender from Europe gets too old, they just go an get another older goalie, and we don’t have a chance. I don’t believe that they should be over here. It’s a Canadian hockey league for Canadian players, that’s what it is for, in fact they had a little motto “For Canadians to Learn Hockey” but they took that out. I believe the Canadian Hockey League is for Canadians...and you have to have Americans , I mean they have Canadians over there (American franchises). To tell you the truth I’ll let you in on a little secret...most of them (teams) don’t want them (Europeans) over here, but they are caught in a situation they can’t get out of. Canadians should always be first.”

On taking the Junior A route to the NHL:

Don: “Sure, I know lots...like Spencer Abbott for The Marlies, he played for the Streetsville Derbies (OHA) and then went down and played for the Black Bears (University of Maine) and got drafted by the Leafs. There’s lots of them. When they play Junior A hockey they want to protect that for those who want to go to college (Major Junior players have to red shirt one year if they go to college in the NCAA), plus they want the education as a backup there’s nothing wrong with that.”

On where the line is between undue pressure to succeed and necessary family support:

Don: “I think if you get any inking at all that the kid doesn’t want to play you got to get him outta there. If he’s not totally, totally dedicated....if he doesn’t eat, drink, sleep (hockey), if he starts thinking about girls ...no seriously... I’m not kidding. Forget it. They (scouts) just mark down “more interested in something else,” and I’ve talked to more fathers that said ‘my son was the best player in minor midget and he just give it up. I said I know why, he got interested in girls. Bingo! I’m kinda kidding but you get the message...if the kid isn’t totally committed and dedicated he should get out.”

On how much longer he wants to tour, talk hockey and do Coach’s Corner:

Don: “Oh, I’m having fun at it. And when it stops being fun.... this is my one and only banquet this summer by the way. I haven’t even been to my cottage yet if you can believe it. But I promised my wife at the end of the playoffs I would do one banquet (and) this is it.”